PERRY TAKES TEXAS’ PURSUIT OF BUSINESSES TO THE RADIO

Governor’s recruitment ad on six stations in California

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is continuing his effort to lure businesses away from San Diego by taking to the airwaves.

Fueled by the November passage of Proposition 30, which raised sales and some income taxes, Perry has voiced an ad that is running on six radio stations in the state — including 1170 AM KCBQ in San Diego — inviting people to go east.

Here’s a full transcript of the 30-second ad in which Perry says:

“Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible.

“This is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and I have a message for California businesses: come check out Texas. There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for eight years running. Visit
texaswideopenforbusiness.com, and see why our low taxes, sensible regulations and fair legal system are just the thing to get your business moving to Texas.”

Mark Cafferty, CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., which is charged with attracting and retaining businesses, said Perry’s message is not entirely accurate.

“He’s regularly saying things like California is not open for business, it’s hard to start a business here,” he said. “If it was true, we wouldn’t have 90,000-plus businesses here in San Diego.”

The radio ad is the latest effort in Perry’s push to bring more businesses to Texas, a state with no corporate or personal state income tax. In California, corporations other than financial institutions pay 8.84 percent. Perry visited San Diego in December in an effort to lure biotech companies to Texas, and is known to visit other states to try to promote moving or expanding in his own.

Perry’s office announced the ad Monday in a news release and tweeted, “Are you a CA based company? While California regulates, Texas innovates.”

TexasOne, a public-private partnership that markets Texas nationally and internationally as a prime business destination, paid $24,000 for the media buy, said Perry’s spokeswoman Lucy Nashed. It’s the first time the governor has taken to the airwaves to sell Texas to California businesses. Previously, he would contact companies directly before visiting.

While Texas does not charge income or corporate taxes, it still out-taxes California in other ways. Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University, said the Lone Star State gets 55 percent of its total taxes through sales, while California is about 23 percent. California gets 60 percent of its tax revenue from income.

In terms of spending, Texas spends about 15 percent of its income, versus 22 percent in California.

“Some would argue, however, that Texas may be under-investing in education, health care, infrastructure, environment and other elements that could impair the long-run future of the state,” Reaser said.

Reaser also said Texas imposes a franchise tax, which accounts for 10 percent of its revenues.

Cafferty of EDC said there’s a reason beyond economics that Perry is targeting California.

“They’ll say it’s because of taxes in a poor business environment, but I would say first and foremost, far ahead of that is that we have many of the best companies on Earth … companies that came here not just because it had low taxes or limited regulatory burden but because this is the place to come to because of the ideas, because of the entrepreneurship,” Cafferty said.